Gut Feeling
by Lily-Finn178
Summary: Chlerek/ He needed to stop her. Instinct was screaming in his head, yelling that he had to run, get to her before it was too late. “Chloe, put down the detergent.”


Disclaimer: Darkest Powers, not mine. I wish...

This takes place in the future. I made it so Derek and Chloe are supposed to be about finished with college.

Enjoy!

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Gut Feeling

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He needed to stop her. Not exactly quite sure how he would accomplish that, he just knew, with every fiber of his being, that he had to find her, and stop her. Save her from herself. Instinct was screaming in his head, yelling that he had to run, get to her before it was too late. So he ran. Down the street. Into the building. Forgoing the elevator for the staircase. Faster. Faster. Faster. It shrieked in his mind. So he ran faster, putting all his efforts into the muscles of his legs and feet. He had to get to her.

So great was his desperation to reach her that he forgot to unlock the door to their small apartment. Instead, he barged in, twisting the doorknob so hard that the lock broke. Something in him registered that he'd have to replace it later, but for the moment, he had more important things to attend. One person took up all of his awareness, and forced all other thoughts from him. Nothing else mattered. Just finding her. And saving her.

It had always been that way with them. She'd do something drastic and stupid. And then he'd save her. Ever since they had been teenagers, meeting in that horrible Lyle House. Even back then, he'd save her, although he knew most times he'd never hear any sort of gratitude for his deeds. It wasn't until later that she realized that was what he was doing--saving her from herself. And when she figured that out, she hadn't really been happy. She didn't want anyone saving her. She wanted to rescue herself.

But he continued anyway, no matter how frustrated she became with him. It was his nature, his basic instinct. Protect the ones he loved. The list wasn't that long, but she was number one. She came above everything else, even himself. He had to save her, or else he'd never be able to forgive himself. It meant disaster for him if he didn't safeguard her. And so, he didn't want this to be the first and only time he couldn't protect her.

He searched, throwing open doors and flinging things out of his way. Nothing could stop him. He had to save her and that was that. That new armchair they'd bought last week? Tossed across the room with a flick of his arm. Normally a soft, comfortable place to rest after a long day of schooling, it became a barrier when he tried to cross from the kitchen to the living room. The door to the bathroom? Torn off the wall, as it prevented him from stomping into there and seeing if that was where she was.

And then, finally, there she was in their bedroom. Looking perplexed and guilty and beautiful all at the same time. He paused for a moment, wondering how the hell he'd ever managed to find someone as magnificent as her. And then, his gaze sweeping over her, drinking up every inch of her, his eyes landed on what she held in her hand.

"Chloe," he spoke, tone low and cautious. "What are you doing?"

Not even pretending to not know what he was talking about, as the evidence was right in her hands, Chloe Saunders lowered her eyes. As she replied, her voice shook, and for a moment, he thought she'd start reverting to the stutter that had plagued her years earlier and only came back when she was truly distressed. "Derek, you don't understand."

"I don't have to understand. I just have to stop you." was his curt answer. He didn't want to listen to any explanations. He just needed to stop her.

Shaking her head, Chloe turned away from him. "It's something I _need _to do. I just can't take it anymore."

Gritting his teeth, he took a few steps closer to her, wanting to snatch that offending object from her hands before she could do any harm. But of course, being Chloe, and knowing him so well after such a long period of time together, she took a few steps away. She wouldn't be stopped. And she said so.

But he didn't want to hear that. "You're being stupid--"

"You know how I feel about you calling me that, Derek!"

"Stubborn, Chloe. You're being stubborn, dammit. So just put it down and we can deal with this like two rational adults."

"I don't want to be rational! I need to do this. You have no idea how hard it is for me. Living day to day like this, not being able to do anything about it. Don't try to stop me, Derek. This has been a long time overdue, and I'm not going to let anyone get in my way, even you!" Caught up in her speech, Chloe temporarily forgot about staying away from him, and marched right over and jabbed her finger into his chest. She would drill her determination into him, whether he liked it or not.

He grabbed the offending finger and stared into her eyes, his own green ones driving home his anxiety to her. Quietly, he mumbled, "Don't do it, Chloe. Just put it down."

"No." came her simple response, and she backed away from him again.

Growling, Derek gave up his pleading look and snapped, "Chloe, put down the damn detergent."

"Derek, I have laundry to do!" And she gestured to the three baskets of dirty clothes resting on the bed, ready for a good cleaning.

"Screw the laundry," he bit out, grabbing for the box of detergent in her hand. His movements were fast, but after living together for awhile, Chloe had gained a couple of new reflexes. She ducked out of the way, holding the box close to her chest. "We've discussed this already. I do laundry or you get someone else to do it for you. You never do laundry by yourself."

"But I need to learn how to do this, Derek! Everyone else has a busy schedule. And you've been so dedicated to your finishing your last classes that you can't find the time to do the laundry. I don't have any pants to wear, and I have one clean shirt left. _Only _one!"

"So just wear my clothes. You've done it before."

"But then you'll run out of clothes. And then neither of us will have anything to wear." She huffed. "And you seriously can't want me to wear your clothes all the time."

To tell the truth, he really liked seeing her walking around in his baggy shirts and pants. He liked it even better when she went outside like that. It was a foolproof plan to keep other guys from looking at her too closely. He didn't want to have his wolf lose control just because some other man was checking out his mate. But he didn't feel that she'd be thrilled by that idea, so he kept his mouth shut.

"I just need to learn how to do laundry correctly, and then I'll be able to do it myself." She looked so proud at that moment, like a child who just mastered tying her shoelaces for the first time. So he neglected to mention that everyone--from him, to Simon, hell, even Tori!--had tried several times to teach her how to do the laundry the correct way, and each time she failed. Miserably. No. Catastrophically.

"How hard can laundry be, anyway? Just watch, Derek. By the end of today, I'll have all our clothes washed to perfection." She seemed to eager, so confident. He didn't argue that the last time she'd gotten past him and secretly did laundry, all his shirts came out tie-dyed. Even the black ones. It was still a mystery to that day how she'd managed that feat.

"So, you can go sit and relax or work on your homework. I'm going to do the laundry now." And that was when he had to stop her. He'd let her try to talk and cajole him into agreeing with her. But really, he knew what would happen if he let her go. And he truly didn't want to show up at class the next day wearing something that belonged back in the seventies.

When she tried to walk by him, he grabbed onto her forearm, stopping her. And while her chin jerked up defiantly, he slipped the detergent box out of her hand and held it out of her reach.

"Derek…" He always thought he would be the one to make the growling noises, but after being with Chloe for so long, he figured he must've rubbed off on her.

Before she could put up another argument, he held up his hands, holding the box of detergent out compromisingly. "Let's just do laundry together. I don't have any work tonight, so I'll help you." He set the box on top of one of the baskets of clothes. Then, picking up the same basket, he walked to the door and raised his eyebrows questioningly. "You coming or what?"

And she stared at him, eyes narrowed, suspicious. However, when she noted the size of the three laundry baskets and then the size of her boyfriend's bulging arm muscles, she changed her mind. Moving over to the bed, she gripped the handles of the smallest basket and grudgingly muttered, "Fine." She followed Derek out of the bedroom, but as they reached the hallway, she whipped around and declared, "Next time, I'm doing laundry by myself. And you can't stop me again. Capiche?"

Great, Derek mentally rolled his eyes. She'd probably recently watched some movie about Italian gangsters and was now trying to channel her inner mobster. "Yeah, sure. Capiche."

And they started towards the apartment building's laundry room. Until Chloe chose once again to whirl around and confront him. Even more, Derek reckoned. She was going to threaten to whack his knees off or some other ridiculous mob boss statement. He loved the girl and all, but she took her Italian mob movies to an extreme. Well, it beat being threatened with a mob of zombies.

But instead of handing out a warning to send him sleeping with the fishes, Chloe turned her face up to his and demanded, "How was your day?"

He almost chuckled, as her petulant expression contrasted with her good-natured words. But, as that would only irritate her further, he answered with a simple, "Worrisome." He'd run out of the middle of taking an exam to run home and save her from destroying their laundry. He might have even bowled another man over in his haste to return. But oh, well. What's done is done.

His report soared right over her head, as she had always been a little dense (it had taken her awhile to realize they were meant for each other--then again, he had had an inner wolf helping him with figuring that out, so he couldn't really blame her for taking so long). But, being Chloe, her lips puckered up in concern, thinking of how terrible his day must have been, not even realizing the cause for his worry might just be the thought of her doing laundry.

Softening, Derek leaned down and captured her pursed lips with his. Even after having a disagreement, she could still fret over him. She'd always been able to worry over him, no matter how bad of a fight they'd been in. Just as he'd always been there to protect her, she would always be looking out for him. The fact that both of them possessed fixed habits when it came to the other just made him appreciate their relationship even more.

He released her mouth, but she only pulled him back down. Had they not been holding heavy baskets of dirty clothes, they'd probably stay there longer, lips touching and hearts pounding. But after a couple of minutes, they reasoned that they should start their laundry and could easily resume their activities later. So on they journeyed to the laundry room again.

"Derek?"

He grunted and she continued, "How did you know I was going to do laundry today?"

A smirk graced the werewolf's face, as he thought of his rush to get home and the sinking feeling of dread in his stomach when he burst into their bedroom to find her standing there with the box of detergent. Thank God he'd arrived back home in time. "Call it a gut feeling."

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Authoress's Notes: Omg, I'm back! With a brand-spanking new one-shot! Yay! I totally love this one. I've actually been wanting to write a laundry fic because I was rereading some parts from The Summoning and I noticed a lot of the time, people didn't want Chloe doing the laundry because she kinda sucks at it. Like, a lot of times, Derek or Rae are correcting her mistakes and telling her how to do the laundry, but she doesn't really get it. Lol, Chloe's so dense (because she totally is...I mean...Hello! You and Derek belong together, Chloe! Get with the program!)!

I'm not sure if I'll have any other stories out anytime soon. I probably won't continue that multi-chap idea I wrote about in Inevitable. I started it, but haven't picked it up in several months. I have been thinking of more ideas recently, and I've been in the mood to write, but I have been very busy. It's my senior year of high school and it is tough....especially with two AP classes and one Honors class....and Physics...I hate that class. Really, really bad.

Anyone other than me think that Taylor Swift's new song "You Belong With Me" totally suits Chlerek? I don't know. The lyrics, I think, fit them really well, although I somehow keep imagining it's Derek singing to Chloe. With a girl's voice...Anyway, that song really helped in the making of this piece. I listened to it probably over 30 times while writing this. It put me in a Chlerek mood.

Hope you enjoyed! Did you notice this is my first Chlerek fic where they're together and Derek isn't angsting about how he'll never have Chloe?? And I wrote my first Chlerek Kiss!! Not very detailed or passionate, but still, it's there!! Yayness!


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